The New Girl
by highfunctioningsociopath221B
Summary: When Lexi shows up on Neverland she thinks she knows what to expect, but little does she know Peter is no Disney hero. Pan thinks he can read this new girl like no problem. Rated M for later chapters. This is my first fanfiction, so please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

"Is she awake yet?" asked a young British voice? _That must be him_. The answer came from an older but still youthful voice.

"No, didn't even wake up when we brought her to camp. Why did the Shadow pick up a girl?" I laughed to myself, interested to hear the other's response. I kept my eyes closed and my breathing even so they wouldn't know I was awake as I took in my surroundings by sense. I was still wrapped in the blanket I had fallen asleep in, but I wasn't on my couch anymore that was for sure; I was on the ground and, going by the crackling sound and smoky smell, there was fire nearby. The air was clean, like in a forest, and a light breeze ruffled leaves in the trees around me._ I made it, finally: Neverland._

"She was asleep when she got here? Did you carry her, Felix? Interesting," drawled the youthful voice that must've belonged to Peter Pan. I could hardly help but smile to myself.

I stretched my arms and legs and let out a waking up sort of groaning noise. My joints were grateful to stretch and pop a bit. I sat up "criss-cross applesauce" style and looked around me with wide eyes and an excited grin. It felt like Christmas morning. I was in a clearing about 30 feet across. It was surrounded by tall trees and there was a campfire in the middle. _Just as I suspected_. There were about five or six tents scattered around the edge of the camp and, looking up, I noticed elaborate structures in the trees that were almost perfectly camouflaged by the vines and branches.

"Wow," I breathed out. This island was even more beautiful than I thought. I looked at the faces around me. There were a dozen or so teenage boys sitting, or crouching rather, five feet away. They all wore the same sort of get up: dark green and brown clothes with black cloaks and leather boots. Two boys were standing immediately to my left. I looked up t them and covered my eyes with one hand to see them right. One was taller and looked like the others. He had blonde hair and a single scar running down his left cheek, but he was undeniably handsome aside. The other was only an inch or two taller than me and had dark hair, blue eyes and the most perfect face I could've imagined. A casual and friendly smile sat on his boyish face.

I stood up and wrapped the blanket tighter around myself even though it was warm outside. I looked more closely at the boy's outfit because it was different from the others'. He had bands on both wrist and a belt around his waist. He radiated an energy that made me want to be near and trust him. He was definitely Peter Pan.

"Hello, I'm Peter. Peter Pan," He introduced. I smiled and giggled.

"I know. Those are the Lost Boys, this is Neverland and- and-wait. Where is Tink? I thought she was always with you?" I asked. I leaned in to look closely at his shoulder, searching for a little ball of light that was a fairy. No luck. I frowned and straightened up to see a disbelieving face.

"How did you get here, girl?" He asked suspiciously. _Damn, I had said too much._

"Simple! I just wished on the star. You said all I had to do was believe, and you were right. I even dressed up, see?" I pulled open my blanket to reveal the jeans, t shirt and tennis shoes I had fallen asleep in. I had known that night would be the night I would go to Neverland, I had just felt it. I smiled at him hoping to lighten the mood.

"So, what? You just willed the Shadow to bring you here? Peter you obviously had something to do with this. She's lying." Felix was looking from me to Peter with an incredulous look on his face. Peter looked equally confused.

"Not exactly. I mean, I felt her believe and I knew when she arrived, but I didn't send for her. How odd," He trailed off. He walked around me, analyzing everything about me. I was beginning to feel more like a circus freak and less like an excited newcomer. _Did I invade Pan's island? Was it wrong of me to be here? _I suddenly began to regret coming to Neverland. Peter made it back around and faced me. The feeling of wanting to be near him returned as he looked me in the eye and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Lexi, by the way. I'm sorry if I've invaded your space. I can leave. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." My apology stumbled out of my mouth. I shook his hand and dropped mine to my side. I felt intimidated and everything about him screamed "LEADER" and dominance. He was smiling.

"Oh no, I want to learn more about you. Besides, you couldn't leave without my permission. No one does." I shiver ran down my spine. _Is that a warning?_

"Do you like games?" He asked taking a step towards me. I relaxed again and nodded. This was the Pan I expected to find.

"Good! I have the perfect game!" He turned towards the other boys and put one arm around my shoulders. I shrugged my blanket back around my shoulders. He smiled at the boys a more sinister smile that made me nervous. The Lost Boys shared a small laugh and I got the feeling that this game wouldn't be Follow the Leader.

"You want to be a Lost Girl, right? Stay here with us; go on adventures, that sort of thing?" Peter asked glancing back at me. I stood up straighter and got excited.

"Yes! More than anything! I'll train harder and longer than anyone before. I-I'll stay up all night to guard camp. Anything you want." I replied. I immediately face palmed mentally. I had let myself get too wrapped up in my desire to stay and now I looked like a crazed fangirl. I tried to backtrack my words but Peter held up his hand and cut me off.

"Harder and longer? All night? Anything I want? Why, Lexi, don't give me any ideas." He smirked. _Shit_. I blushed and attempted to explain what I had really meant but it was useless. The boys were laughing and Peter looked too triumphant. _One point Peter, zero Lexi. _

"Don't worry about it, Lass. Back to the game, how about Hide and Seek? But reverse. You'll hide and the boys will try to find you; it's over when I say so or if the boys bring you back to camp." The Lost Boys nodded in agreement and I thought looked at Peter skeptically.

"Where does that put you?" I asked.

"On your team, of course! Should the boys get too…rowdy all you'll have to do is ask and I'll be there to help you. Fair enough?" He didn't give me a chance to reply and clapped my shoulder before turning back to the boys. His encouraging smile dropped turning his face more serious.

"Alright, boys" He raised his voice and sounded more commanding, "Ground rules: no dreamshade, Lexi is our guest and we don't want her…compromised. Next thing, no face hits, direct knife throwing or knock outs." The boys all groaned as if these rules took the fun out of the game. My eyes widened. _What have you gotten yourself into? _

"Oh don't be so disappointed. Arrows, nets, traps and hand to hand is fine. Does everyone understand?" I pulled on his shirt and he leaned his head to the side. I whispered in his ear.

"What's dreamshade?" He laughed as if it was the silliest question. Felix, on the other hand, rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, Pan. Is this even fair? She probably can't even throw a punch right without breaking her wrist." Felix sighed.

"I resent that!" I said clearly offended as I turned to my left causing Peter's arm to fall of my shoulder and glared up at him. He was only about three inches taller than me so I straightened up and punched him as hard as I could in the arm. Nothing. He looked from me to Peter with his eyebrows raised as if to say, "Really?"

"That's why she has me on her team." Peter explained. There was no way I was gonna be asking him for help. I can be tough and macho too. This definitely wasn't the game I had expected but that didn't matter. I was determined.

"Ready, Lexi?" Peter asked. I turned away from Felix and looked at Peter nodding. He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well? Get going, you only get 30 seconds head start and the clocks ticking." Oh. I dropped the blanket and booked it trying to put as much distance between the camp and myself as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

This is it. I've got exactly 30 seconds to run as far as I can from a dozen more than slightly wild boys who are armed and prepared to maim me. Perfect, because, you know this is exactly what I wanted when I decided to come to Neverland. I kept running as I tried to think through a plan. This wasn't completely hopeless I guess. I mean, at least I'm in shape..sorta, I have Peter Pan on my team (not like I'll use him), the boys have rules against killing me and I'm dressed for the occasion. Things were looking up for me. That is, until I heard the war cries of the Lost Boys that signaled my time was up.

There was not a doubt in my mind that they could outrun me. Shit, they probably knew that island well enough to walk it in their sleep, and there I was trying not to run into a tree. _Oh! Trees! _If I could climb to the up a tree and let them run pass I would have some time to plan. I thanked my lucky stars for a childhood of climbing trees and started up the closest tree.

I swung my legs over branches and not-so-gracefully hauled myself as far up as I could before I heard their footsteps. _Yoga breathing, Lexi, c'mon just quiet down a bit. _My breathing slowed down just in time. I could hear muffled voices below me and risked leaning over to getting a better view. The Lost Boys were standing around Felix about five feet from my tree. He was drawing a map in the dirt with a stick. There were little x's and lines criss-crossing that told the boys where to go.

"She's easy, boys. This should be no problem for us. Tootles, you take your group to the lagoon and keep an eye over there. Slightly, your group goes north to the caves. Do not let her get past you. Understand?" Felix commanded the groups. The boys wore identical grins and nodded. Felix looked around him and pulled the cloak he wore over his face.

"I'll take the others and comb the forest. We all heard what Pan said, but should one of us break a rule . . . accidentally of course . . . she would never know." _What. _I sat up straight on my branch. Okay. They're gonna break rules and play dirty? Fine. I had thought Peter had better control over his boys but I guess not. I closed my eyes and listened to the boys split up with howls and cries.

_Snap._ My eyes shot open and my eyes and spotted a sly boy with an arrow in the tree directly across from me. His arrow was trained on me and his smile told me the snapping twig was intentional. I rolled off of my branch reaching for the one below me just in time to hear him loose the arrow. I clung like a koala to the trunk of the tree with my eyes tightly closed trying to regain my composure. I felt something hit the tree next to my hand and pulled it back on instinct.

The sudden movement caused me to lose my balance and I tumbled the rest of the way onto the ground with an unimpressive thud. Of course, how could I fall without making a little noise? I had screamed the whole way down, which wasn't as far as it had looked from up there. As it turned out, my perch in the tree hadn't been very high up at all. I guess that was lucky though seeing as I fell right out of it. I felt a shiver down my back as the boy with the arrow landed nimbly behind me. He chuckled and I turned my head to look at him. He couldn't have been older than 14 or 15. He had dark red almost brown hair that was a little overgrown, His bangs hung over his eyes but he didn't seemed bothered by them.

"Felix was right, this was easy," he said in a condescending voice. _Ugh, a boy that thinks he's better than me because he can shoot an arrow. Gimme a break. _I stood up to face him and lifted my fists. I had never fought before or even punched someone, and I wasn't planning on starting now. The boy's eyebrows raised and he dropped his bow raising his own fists. _At least he plays fair._ I took a step towards him trying to look tough and intimidating. I did have a few inches on the kid. He rolled his shoulders before throwing a punch I barely deflected. There was no way I could win this without hating myself for punching a kid. I thought fast and came up with a compromise.

I slammed my hands on either side of his head over his ears. It effectively disoriented him and that was I needed. I ran hard out of the area and didn't stop until I was sure I was a safe distance from him. _This is like Hunger Games . . . but not . . . sorta. _I laughed to myself noticing the similarities.

I was in another clearing identical to the one I had just left. I closed my eyes and listened for any noise around me. Nada. I saw vines hanging from the trees around me and got an idea. I needed weapons, something to defend myself with. If the boys were in groups, probably pairs, I just had to ambush them. I could definitely take on two of these boys if they weren't expecting me, right?

I broke off several feet of vine and tied one end to the base of a tree. I hid behind a tree six feet away and gave some slack so that the vines lay on the ground undetectable. I tugged on them a few times to test their strength _or buy time _and took a deep breath. I jumped up and grabbed onto the branch above me. Shaking it as hard as I could to attract attention and rattle the leaves I let out a scream and jumped to the ground trying to make as much sound as possible.

I quickly hid behind the tree and crouched low holding onto the vine. After a couple seconds I heard the sound of running feet. A pair of them.

"She fell again? What a fool." One of them laughed to the other. This was a game to them. They were actually enjoying themselves. They ran into the clearing and between the two trees. I pulled up on the vine and it created a rope a couple inches off the ground. The unsuspecting boys tripped right over it and landed on their faces. This was my chance.

I sprinted from behind my tree to the boys. One of them was the ginger kid from before and the other looked a bit older but I didn't waste any time looking at them. I leaned down and snatched up one of their swords and kept running. They were up and after me quickly but I didn't spare them a glance as I pushed farther into the forest. I ditched the trail and forced my legs to pick up the pace. The two were gaining on me and I quickly made a corner and then another hoping to lose them. I looked over my shoulder to check for them and ran into a tree. _Just my luck._

I stumbled back a step only to see that it was a person, not a tree I had run into. And not just any person, no. Why on earth would I be that lucky? I glared into the smirking face of Felix. Damn him. I shoved him as hard as I could with my shoulder and backed up again to glare at him. I was pissed. This was not the Neverland it was supposed to be. I had been shot at and chased in this forsaken island by a couple of prepubescent teens and now Felix was here to rub it in my face. He stood with his club resting on his shoulder and his other hand at his side. He had taken a step back surprised by my shove.

"Having fun?" he asked in an infuriatingly light tone. I raised my sword with both hands and swung at him. He deflected it with his club and advanced on me. His smirk was replaced by a smile. His eyes were lit with excitement and youth. He didn't strike me only deflected me. He was having fun and that only made me angrier. I struck again with no outcome and dropped my arms to my side. Letting out a frustrated yell, I turned around to storm off. Apparently that wasn't the right move.

Felix gently placed the end of his club on my shoulder as if warning me not to take another step. I shrugged it off and kept walking. Well I was walking, you know, until I felt him push my back causing me to fall forward onto my knees. I caught myself on my hands and sat down, tired. I was leaning back on my hands with my feet out in front of me.

Felix walked around to be in front of me. His smile was gone. Seeing him so serious made me nervous and I began to back up. I scooted back and he made up for it by taking steps closer.

"Rule one, never turn your back on your opponent." He said. _Is this a lesson now? _

_ "_What? You're gonna teach me how to fight? Why would you do that?" He held out his hand to help me up and I accepted it. Maybe if he thought I had given up I could get away.

"Just trying to make the game fair, girl." he sneered. His voice was condescending and I hated it.

"Lexi. Not girl, Lexi. Do you think you have that much of an upper hand on me? I have beaten two of your boys." I pointed out. He looked surprised. _10 points for Gryffindor. _He dropped his club and me my sword. I should've made a grab for his weapon but something told me it wouldn't be a successful attempt.

"Alright, Lexi, rule number two: always know where your opponents are." He smiled and my blood ran cold. _What could have possibly led me to believe he would play fair? _A pair of hands came from behind me covering my mouth and putting a dagger to my throat. I didn't try to struggle too much due to the sharp object currently pressed to my windpipe, but I did jab my elbows into my attacker as best I as could.

I heard a satisfying groan as my elbow connected with the boy's stomach. The knife was removed from my throat and the hand was no longer on my moth but in exchange for those freedoms my hands were pulled and tied behind my back. I glared at Felix feeling betrayed. The boy who had tied my hands was standing behind me and I made sure to keep some space between us.

"And here I thought we were having a moment." I sighed. He took a step closer to me with a smug look on his face. He stopped a few inches from me and leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"That was the plan, Lexi." I jerked my knee up to hit him between the legs. It almost worked, too! He stopped my knee with his hand, though and glared at me.

"Bad move." He said raising his club. _Shit. _

"Wait! Pan's rule says you can't knock me out. I heard you back there; do you really wanna break one of his rules? Really?" I was frantic but tried to sound calmer than I felt. Something in his eyes clicked and he lowered his club. I sighed with relief.

Felix backed off and his club returned to its home on his shoulder. He began to pace in front of me as if deciding what to do next. I cleared my throat and he looked at me like he had forgotten I was there.

"So, what now? Aren't you gonna take me back to camp? Haven't I lost?" I was confused. He could win this easily now. The boy behind me scoffed.

"Do you honestly think Pan is just going to let us waltz you back to the camp? That would mean losing, Pan never loses," the boy said it as if it was the simplest concept. I wasn't the problem anymore, I never was. They had known it would be easy to catch me; the real difficulty was getting past Peter. I had an idea.

"Oh, Felix?" I began sweetly. He looked at me again but this time he was suspicious. "I bet we could make a deal. Peter is on my team, and he won't intervene until I ask him to. Theoretically wouldn't he just let us walk into camp as long as I don't ask for his help?" I was not about to lose this game. If they let me go I would call on Peter _dammit I hate that idea_ and get away from these boys. From there I could handle myself until the end of the game.

"Why would you lose on purpose?" He asked. I shrugged and looked innocent.

"I just think Peter's ego could use a loss or two. Doesn't it get boring always losing to him? All you have to do is unbind my wrists and I'll walk with you right into the camp." Felix was skeptical still, I could tell.

"How do I know you won't just run as soon as you're free?" It was my turn to look at him incredulously.

"Oh yeah, because I can definitely outrun you and fight the Lost Boys off." I said sarcastically. He seemed convinced and nodded at the boy behind me. As soon as my hands were free Felix was in front of me. He grabbed my chin in his hand and forced eye contact.

"Do not try to trick me." He warned. _Shit Lexi, be brave. These boys take games way too seriously. _I wondered if I could call on Peter simply by using my thoughts. I screamed out a distress call in my mind. _**Please, Peter; I need your help now. Please!**_ Felix let go of my face and whistled a short melody that I assumed called the boys together. I spared a glance around me to see if Peter had shown up yet. I tried to be discreet but nothing goes unnoticed here.

"What are you looking for? You can't run past us. Well, you might. Go ahead and try, it'll be funny!" the still nameless boy jested. I turned my head to glower at him but something caught my eye. Standing in the shadows there was a form, a person. They were concealed almost completely. My gaze was cut off by the boy pushing me forward.

The other Lost Boys had shown up quickly and Felix was filling them in on the plan. A cool breeze passed through the air and the boys all stiffened. Felix looked at me menacingly.

"I told you not to trick me." he said lowly. I gulped and felt my heart rate accelerate. I began to regret my decisions; this plan wasn't so great after all. All I could do was shake my head silently trying to deny whatever I was being accused of.

One by one each of the boys collapsed to the ground until there was just Felix and me. I panicked and ran up to one of the boys. Checking his pulse and listening for breathing I decided he was only sleeping. Felix, however, was shaking with rage. He wasn't looking at me, though. He was looking at the figure hidden in the shadows.

"She played the game, well, huh?" came Peter's voice from the shadows.

"She cheated." Felix replied flatly. _What? No. I did not cheat. _

"Ummm, no. You're wrong. I didn't cheat. . . I just played the game." I tried to look innocent as I crept towards Peter. He stepped out from behind the tree with a triumphant and overly cocky grin. Wrapping one hand around my waist he waved his other hand at Felix.

"See you at camp." Peter said simply as we began to rise into the air. I clung to Peter and he laughed. Sure I had always wanted to fly, who didn't? But, I would've liked to be held in the air by a little more than a teenage boy. I guess we can't always get what we want.

Felix disappeared beneath us and Peter looked at me with an encouraging smile. I had done something right.

**A/N: Okay so I've never written fanfic before and this is definitely amateur. Any suggestions or feedback? I'd love to hear it! **** Love you guys, tell me what you think, what you want, all that jazz! 3 **


	3. Chapter 3

When we landed Peter's arm was still around my waist and my arms had found their way around his torso. I clung to him for a moment after landing knowing that my legs couldn't support me yet. After taking a few shaky steps (with his help) I deemed myself stable and removed my arms. I could see that he was trying not to laugh at me and I mumbled something along the lines of, "Shut up, Pan." before continuing a few steps carefully. After a minute or two when I had finally recovered I collected my thoughts. Flying had been more fun than I anticipated.

"That was amazing!" I squealed looking at him with wide eyes making him chuckle.

"I'll show you how to do it on your own sometime," he promised amusedly, "Not many people like flying their first time."

"Well I loved it." I said. I looked around the camp and noticed my blanket was still in a heap near the now dead fire. I walked to it and began to fold it.

"Where should I put this?" I asked throwing it over one arm. Peter shrugged and pointed to one of the tents behind me.

"Put it in my tent for now, until we get you your own," he said nonchalantly. A grin appeared on my face as I understood what he'd implied.

"So I'm staying then?" I asked. We were walking side by side to his tent by now. The tent was made of leaves and closely braided twigs. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. _Damn that eyebrow._

"Hmmm?" He pretended to not understand. I rolled my eyes and playfully punched him making him chuckle again.

"You said 'until I get my own' so that means I'm getting a tent. A tent to stay in. A tent to stay in Neverland. Do you see where I'm headed with this?" We had made it to the entrance and he held open the flap for me.

"What a gentleman" I joked sarcastically. He gave an over exaggerated bow as I passed.

"Oh always!" He said. Inside the tent was larger than I thought it would be. Time lord, "bigger on the inside" status. There were bookshelves on one wall, a decently sized bed in the middle and an assortment of pipes and weapons leaning on the other side. I put the folded blanket at the foot of the bed and went to look at his books. Peter stood by the entrance, watching my carefully.

"What kind of books do you have in a place like Neverland?" I mumbled to myself. My fingers trailed over the bindings. Some were old and cracked; others looked like they had hardly been read. Most of them were children's picture books but I noticed a couple larger books as well.

"Sometimes boys bring books with them to Neverland but they grow tired of them, eventually." He explained. I pulled one of the thicker books from the shelf and opened it. It was filled with old pages covered in a neat handwriting. I read a few sentences describing two spinsters before closing it. I turned it over in my hands noticing that there was no title. I looked at Peter with a confused expression.

"When I first got here, I wanted to forget everything about the life I'd left. The memories never left me, though. They visited me in dreams and whenever I sat idly. So I wrote them all down. I evicted them from my mind and housed them in these books," he said with calmly. He took the book from my hand and placed it back with the others. I didn't know what to say. I opened my mouth to try and apologize, for what I don't know, but I was interrupted by a war cry just beyond camp.

A smile crept back to pans mouth and an adventurous glint returned to his eyes. "Stay here" He said before leaving the tent. I wandered to the other side and began to inspect his collection of bows and knives. Some were beautifully adorned with gems and others were carved from branches.

I heard voices but could make out no words. I slunk to the door careful to stay out of sight, and listened closely.

"Is she here?" asked Felix. He sounded playful, but his voice was challenging.

"She is, just inside my tent. You'll have to get pass me first, though." replied Peter cockily. Did he realize that there were at least twelve boys on the opposing team? Felix laughed.

"Pass you? Why not just around you?" He asked. I looked around for any sign of an intruder.

"Well where's the fun in that?" Peter sounded dismayed. He wanted to roughhouse a bit, make the game more fun for himself. That's when I say them. A pair of eyes gleamed under the bed and we locked eye contact. My breath hitched and I quickly grabbed the closest dagger. A boy sneaked out from under the bed with a sly smile. He held one finger to his mouth telling me to keep quiet.

He looked about Felix's age. He had black hair and wore paint on his face and in his hair. There were bands on his wrist, like Peter's, and his eyes shone with excitement and youth. He was attractive and I couldn't help but smile at the game we were playing. He held up a blunt stick like a sword taking up a stance of a dueler.

"Have you been here the whole game?" I whispered. He nodded. Felix was smarter than I gave him credit for; planting a boy in Peter's tent to wait for me had been a good move. _One point me, one point Felix. We're even._ He took a step towards me and we began fighting. There was nothing serious or dangerous about it. Well, besides the fact that I was holding a sharpened dagger but he was easily deflecting my attacks.

The boy made to jab his stick one direction but changed at the last minute taking me by surprise. I stepped back and tripped making a small noise as I went down. He was on me before I could register what had happened. He sat on my stomach with both legs to one side and began picking the dirt off of the stick nonchalantly.

"Give up?" he asked quietly. He was mocking me but I could hardly hide the smile on my face.

"Never!" I laughed pushing him as hard as I could. He fell off slightly but that was enough for me. I jumped up and ran to the other end of the tent, by the books. The bed was between us and he was already standing by the time I turned around. We stared at each other challenging the other to move first. I moved to one side and he mirrored my action. _Do something! _

I knew that if I tried to leave the tent through the main entrance I would either be caught or have to face the rest of the boys outside. I wasn't sure if there were boys around the tent or not. The only noise was our heavy breathing and I could hear Felix and Peter sword fighting while still throwing out comments to the other. How had they not heard us?! I tossed the dagger onto the bed and waved my hand at the boy. Winking, I dove to the ground and slid under the tent.

Once outside I stood up and looked around me. To my left I caught a glimpse of Peter and Felix dueling with matching smiles. To my right the forest welcomed me. _There's my chance._

I ran into the forest and looked back to see if the boy was following. He hadn't left the tent yet, which made me suspicious. I tripped over a vine that appeared out of nowhere and landed flat on my face. _Graceful. _

"Oof!" I grunted trying to pick myself up.

"Your own trick used against you! Ha!" I lifted myself off the ground and saw the ginger kid from earlier. _Not this guy, again. _I stood up and made to run off but there was nowhere for me to go. I was surrounded by the boys and sighed.

"Games over, girl." He said as the group came in closer.

"Seriously, my name is Lexi. Leh-sck-ee" I said slowly sounding it out for them. This whole "girl" thing was getting on my nerves. I didn't even struggle when one of the boys behind me pulled my arms behind my back and tied them up.

"Déjà vu?" asked another familiar voice.

"You again, too?!" I asked exasperatedly. A few of them chuckled before I was turned back toward the camp.

"Walk," the boy who tied my wrists commanded.

"But what if I wanna skip?" I asked innocently. There was no reply, just a sharp poke to my back with a stick. "Alright, alright. I'll walk." I sighed. "I thought you guys were supposed to be fun?"

"We could make you run, if you'd like?" he suggested, I could hear his smile. I imagined what I would look like running with my hands tied behind my back and shuddered. _How about no? _

"Walking it is." I resigned.

"Hey, Pan, look what we found!" shouted one of the boys. Peter landed a blow on Felix and they broke apart. A satisfied smirk grew on Felix's face as I walked into the camp with my head held high.

"I thought I told you to stay in the tent!" Peter exclaimed looking at me annoyed. I quickly tried to explain myself; I did not want to piss him off. Like, the last thing on my to-do list immediately after dying painfully and eating a jar of slugs was in very small print "piss of Peter".

"I did! But there was a boy. Under your bed. Did you know that? Do you make a habit of hiding boys under your bed because that's not heatly. Yeah and he had a stick and I tried to fight him off, but golly gee. I don't know if you know this, but I'm not very good with knives and stuff. I didn't die though, so I feel like you should be a bit happier about that. I ran away, I really tried." I began stumbling over my words before I was interrupted.

"Looks like we won, pan." Felix drawled. Peter threw up his hands in defeat and glared at me one last time.

"Yeah well, don't get used to it. We've just gotta train the newbie." Peter said. He snapped his fingers and the rope around my wrists disappeared. I rubbed them gratefully and walked back into Peter's tent.

The boy was laying on Peter's bed relaxed. He picked up his head with his hands behind his back smiling.

"Is the game over?" he asked with an excited look on his face. His voice was deep.

"Come here," I said waving him over with my arm. He was up and crossed the tent to me quickly. I grabbed his arm and drug him into the circle. His arm was muscular and my hand didn't wrapp completely around it; he could easily escape my grasp if he wanted to.

"See? There was a boy." I showed Peter.

"Did you touch anything in there?" asked Peter in a warning voice. He began to look angry. The boy's face looked afraid as he denied the accusation immediately.

"Of course not! I know what's out of bounds. I swear, all I did was hide under your bed. Didn't touch anything at all. Well, except for her," he said jerking a thumb at me with a smirk. Peter gave him a warning look and tilted his head as if giving him a last chance to tell the truth. "I didn't touch anything!" the boy shouted.

"Ruffio, if I see one thing out of place in there I will have your head." Peter stated. I gulped and let him go but he didn't walk away. Looking around, I noticed that the other boys were staring at the ground trying to attract as little attention as possible. There was an uneasy and nervous feel in the air that I didn't like. I cleared my throat in an attempt to calm everyone down.

"So, what's the prize?" I asked. Peter stared at me as if he had forgotten I was there and his demeanor changed instantly. He looked at Felix who was grinning wickedly.

"Winner gets to chose since it wasn't agreed upon at the beginning." Peter explained. He looked like his night was getting worse and worse.

"Within reason, of course." I said, "Right?" I was smiling hopefully but Peter's look and Felix's grin made my stomach drop and my smile faltered.

"I thought we would win so I didn't set up rewards at the beginning. They can choose anything. The only restrictions are they can't last longer than a day and no one can be intentionally harmed."

"Intentionally?" I asked warily. I could just about throttle Peter at this point. "Don't you think this would've been nice to know before?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Why? We still would've won no offense." said Ruffio. _Oh, offense taken, buddy._

_ "_Well boys, I think we can all agree on the prize," began Felix looking around. The others were laughing lightly and nodded. He cleared his throat before continuing, "Peter, Lexi," he pointed to us, "We choose…..

**A/N: Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long. I kinda forgot that some people were actually waiting for this chapter. Thanks for your reviews! I love you guys sooo much! I promise to update tomorrow. **** See ya then!**


	4. Chapter 4

"You guys have to sleep outside of camp," Felix began, "No bringing supplies, no help from any one or thing else on this island and no magic." I waited for the catch but there was none. Peter looked underwhelmed and we exchanged uneasy glances.

"Too easy? I can always add something, I'm sure the boys have plenty of ideas, yeah?" Before any of the Lost Boys could reply to Felix I threw a mini fit.

"You mean I have to sleep outside? On the ground?! What about bugs?" I shouted pretending to be disgusted and afraid. Apparently that was the reaction he was looking for. He gave Peter an amused and triumphant smirk just to rub it in that he'd won.

"Have fun with the princess, Pan," he said making the other boys snicker. I stamped my foot and put on my best pout to add effect.

"Trust me when I say that this'll be worse for me than it will be for you," Peter grumbled to me before turning to walk into his tent. On his way our arms brushed and he winked at me; I was glad that he knew I was just putting up a front for Felix. Ruffio stepped between Peter and the tent crossing his arms over his chest.

"What do you think you're doing, huh?" he asked.

"I'm just grabbing a bow and a few arrows so we don't starve or get killed." Peter explained trying to side step the boy. It was useless, though, the boy just mirrored the action continuing to block Peter's path. He took a menacing step towards Ruffio, who didn't even flinch.

"You heard him, no magic. Here, use Devin's," Ruffio said. He held out his hand and the boy who'd tied my hands gave him a bow far less fancy than those in the tent. Peter snatched it from Ruffio's hand and walked back to Felix.

"Does this count as a 'supply' or am I allowed to make sure the princess doesn't die on her first night?" _Is this "princess" thing gonna last much longer? _Felix pretended to think for a moment and then looked around at the others. A chorus of no's met my ears making my stomach drop.

"The tribe has spoken." Replied Felix nastily. He took the bow back from Peter. Peter blinked once, twice, then smiled confidently.

"You forget how long I spent in Neverland before you came. If you honestly think I can't survive one night on my own well, I'd be disappointed in you." His face shone with excitement for the task at hand. Felix knit his brows together for a second. A smile broke out on his face; it was more of a grimace really. I later learned that Felix never actually smiled; he just sorta turned up the corners of his mouth a bit.

"It's not you I'm thinking about. You'll be fine, or would be if you didn't have to carry the extra weight. Spending the night out of camp isn't your punishment; it's being stuck with the princess," he sneered. _There's that damn name again. _Peter looked back at me and shrugged.

"The only real tragedy is that I can't use magic to shut her up," Peter said. I took a step so that I was next to Peter.

"You know I'm right here? I can hear you guys talking about me. I have done absolutely nothing to deserve this treatment. Oh hey, Felix, Mr. Tough Guy. Remember that time I escaped you with my hands literally tied behind my back? Yeah, how was that?" I was trying to get back at them both. Felix looked at me with mock confusion.

"I think we know that's not quite what happened, Princess."

"My. Name. Is. LEXI, you morons!" I yelled before stomping into the woods.

"I think you upset Her Majesty," Peter not-so-quietly whispered.

"Are you coming or what, Pixie Boy?" I called not stopping my trek. I was gonna regret that comment later, but for now I was content to believe I had successfully insulted him.

I don't remember when exactly Peter joined me, only that we still hadn't said a word to each other after almost an hour. I was following him through the forest as well as I could given the speed at which Peter was walking.

After tripping over the millionth root I sat down and leaned on a trunk nearby. I noticed that Peter didn't spare me a sideways glance as he continued to march between the trees. I sighed and folded my hands on my lap patiently. _He has to come back for me at some point, right?_

"Are you just gonna pout all night or are we at least going to try to have fun?" Peter asked suddenly standing over me with one shoulder resting on what I had dubbed as my tree. His unexpected arrival had made me jump a bit, but I tried to cover it up with a cough.

"A princess can do whatever she wants," I replied shrugging my shoulders and inspecting my nails. _I'll show you pouting. You haven't even seen pouting yet, buddy. _He laughed lightly and crouched down so that we were eye to eye. I still didn't look up from my dirty nails, even when he said my name a couple times. _Allow silent treatment to commence. _

"If you don't get up I'll just carry you. Apologies in advance if I don't exactly handle you with care," he warned. I glared at him, taken aback by how close his face was to mine. _End silent treatment. _

"Back. Up." I said pushing myself further into the tree.

"A king can do whatever he wants," he said simply. A smirk grew on his face making me furious. While I've certainly made better decisions since that night, I do not regret what I did next. Without a second thought I raised my left hand and slapped Peter Pan. Almost.

He grabbed my wrist just before it connected with his face without breaking eye contact, and looked from my hand to me. Something in his eyes changed causing his face to darken. In that moment I understood why the Lost Boys were so loyal, why pirates feared him, why Peter controlled the island and why I wasn't going to leave Neverland: this boy who never grew up was dangerous.

My shoulder loudly protested as he yanked me up so that we were both standing. Moving his hands to my waist he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder easily; within seconds I had gone from sitting on the tree to being tossed over his shoulder like a rag doll.

"You did this to yourself, Lexi." He sounded disappointed. I kicked, flailed, punched and squirmed trying to get back to the ground but Peter's grip was strong as he kept walking.

"Let me down!" I shouted, still fighting. Instead of a response, he pinched behind my knee; after a while I gave up and completely relaxed. Deadweight.

"Finally," I heard him say to himself.

_How long can he keep this up? He's gotta be getting tired. _Nearly an hour had passed before he set me down gently in front of a cave. We had left the forest and were standing on a beach that looked like it belonged on a brochure. The ocean before us was a deep blue, going on forever; to my left I identified Skull Rock, and looking in either direction down the beach I guessed the sand wrapped around the island.

"Firewood or food?" He asked

"Firewood. I'd end up poisoning us if I got the food." I replied earning a small chuckle from Peter.

I wandered into the forest and began picking up dry twigs and sticks. _I'll come back for larger pieces later. _I lost myself in my thoughts, remembering the home I'd left so willingly. I wondered if they were looking for me yet, I had left a note telling them I was in Neverland. I pictured my family crying and searching the town for me. I was in no way unloved or unwanted. My family was a good one, as was my life. _How could you be so selfish, Lexi?_

The bushes next to me rustled and I quickly wiped my eyes before demanding the intruder to show themselves. A small squirrel ran from the bush and up a nearby tree. Grateful for the distraction, I went back to picking up kindling and hummed to myself to avoid thinking of my old home.

"Were you crying?" The voice was concerned, and I almost didn't recognize it without its confident tone. I turned around to face Ruffio, I faked a winning smile.

"Don't be silly," I said. Ruffio wasn't convinced, but he didn't pry. "What are you doing here? I'm not allowed to accept outside help, so don't even try to trick me."

"Felix sent me to see if you were still alive," he said casually watching me with blue eyes as if he was waiting for me to drop dead. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Oh, c'mon! Peter wouldn't kill me! I may annoy him occasionally, but he wouldn't kill someone for making him lose a dumb game." I remembered the look he'd given me in the forest and began to second guess myself.

"He's done it for less," Ruffio shrugged, "I'll leave you to gather firewood. See you in the morning . . . maybe." He ruffled my hair and turned to walk back to camp.

"You're just trying to scare me off," I called to him. He turned and walked backwards wearing a grin.

"If that's what you wanna believe, I won't burst your bubble. Don't do anything stupid, I still want a rematch. No running away next time!" He replied lightheartedly. I stuck out my tongue at him and watched him walk away. _No. You are not allowed to crush on Ruffio. No. No. No. _I bit my lip and smiled to myself. I could at least think he's cute, right?

"Don't even think about it, Lexi." I exaggeratedly sagged my shoulders and exhaled. _Don't spoil my fun. _

"I don't know what you're talking about, Peter," I feigned innocence. He was standing next to the tree the squirrel had run up. Maybe, if I was lucky, the squirrel would drop an acorn on his head.

"Really? Because I'm seeing your cheeks turning pink and I can practically hear your heart pounding. Trust me, these boys aren't your type." Peter said reaching down to pick up some larger branches. I scoffed.

"My type? What are you, a magazine?" I started to walk back to the cave followed by Peter.

"Don't play the boys here, if they start falling in love they get sent back. Everyone knows that love is a part of growing up, that's why there are no girls." He was dropping a hint.

"Psh, love? All I'm talking about - and I'm not even really _talking _about anything - is simple, lighthearted, meaningless fun." I was ready for this conversation to end.

"You better be," was all he said. Back at the cave I could see a small fire and looked at him confusedly.

"You were taking too long." He said simply. The sun was beginning to set on the water creating a picture perfect scene. There were a few large leaves leaning on the side of the cave, I assumed they were to be our blankets for the night. Peter took the small bundle of wood from my arms and built up the fire while I sorted the berries by color hoping there would be enough for us. While meat would have been nice, I wasn't so sure I could eat a squirrel.

A breeze came in off the water making me shiver and I wiggled closer to the fire.

"Peter, it won't get too cold here at night, will it?" I asked hopefully.

"Normally it wouldn't, but because I can't use magic it will be as cold as the island naturally would be."

"Damn, Felix and his rules." I mumbled.

"Maybe if you had stayed in the tent, we would have won. Then Felix could be sitting out here. Well, I would've chosen something a bit worse." _Here we go again._

"I told you, Ruffio was in there. My options were either run or be dragged out of the tent, I made the better decision." I explained, "Maybe if you didn't hoard boys under your bed I wouldn't have been put in that position." I looked at him from across the fire to see that he was smiling. The flames made shadows dance on his face eerily so he appeared more sinister than he was. He began to laugh and pretty soon I was joining him.

"Come on, let's get into the cave before the fire goes out." He said standing up to grab the leaves on the side of the cave. I had braided five of them together into a blanket.

"The fire looks like it's going strong to me," I said eyeing the fire still at least a foot and a half tall.

"And I'm sure it would last longer, too. That is, if someone had grabbed real logs instead of flirting." He deadpanned. _I guess I can't do anything right._

I followed him into the dark cave and shivered from the lack of heat. It wasn't much warmer, but at least there was no wind. Peter laid a few leaves down for padding and then looked to me with a smirk that made me nervous.

"It's pretty cold. We'll have to conserve body heat if either of us wants to avoid hypothermia." he said. I should've known this was coming. The way I saw it I could play this two ways. I could freak out and protest, which is probably what he was expecting, or I could go along with it. I chose the latter.

"Guess so. You know what? It works even better, from what I've heard, if one or both of us are naked." I suggested with no intention of lying under leaves naked with Peter. He shrugged, the smile never leaving his face, and began to undo his belt.

"NO, wait, stop! Keep your clothes on! I was kidding!" I stumbled over my words. My cheeks were turning pink and I had covered my face with my arms. Peter laughed and peeled my arms off. His face said it all: he had won this battle of nerves.

"Shut up," I mumbled walking over to the leaves on the ground.

"I didn't say anything. You're the one who told me to undress." I could practically hear his smile. Curling into a ball I ignored his statement.

Peter laid down behind me so my back was to him and pulled the makeshift blanket over us both. He wrapped one arm around me, pulling me close. The only reason I didn't put up a fight was because he was warm.

It felt like an eternity had passed and it was still dark outside. I hadn't slept very well at all and after my last lapse of sleep I woke up facing Peter. I was snuggled under his chin and his legs had entwined with mine. I blushed but didn't move, at least he was asleep. In his sleep he pulled me closer, I didn't know that was possible, and exhaled lightly. I could see the young boy he had been before Neverland. He looked peaceful and almost angelic, his lips slightly parted and his dark eyelashes still. I tucked my head back under his chin and closed my eyes again.

"It's rude to stare," he said sleepily before yawning. I was flabbergasted.

"I wasn't staring. I was . . ." I couldn't think of anything good with my brain in the hazy tired state it was. He chuckled lightly and we both fell back asleep. With any luck, this would be forgotten in the morning.

No such luck. I woke up to an empty bed of leaves and stretched my arms over my head. I could see Peter's shadow at the cave entrance and slowly got up to see if he had breakfast. _Wait. Peter doesn't have a normal shadow. _My blood ran cold. Creeping closer, I could hear a pair of voices. One belonged to Peter, and the other Felix.

"I see you're alone. Did the Princess get too annoying?" Felix asked. I didn't give Peter the chance to answer as I strutted out of the cave confidently.

"Well hi there, Felix! I see you brought breakfast!" I said reaching for the half eaten fruit in his hand. His smile fell and he snatched the fruit out of my reach. Peter laughed at the small interaction and turned to the remains of our fire.

"Here, Lexi, there are some berries I picked before you got up." Peter was being nice. This was a trick. I warily took the berries expecting them to explode at any moment.

"What did you do to them?" I asked carefully.

"What? I can't feed the girl I shared a bed with? I thought it was courtesy to provide breakfast the morning after." He made it sound like something had happened. Felix snickered and I glared daggers at Peter.

"Don't make it sound like something it wasn't." I said eating the berries.

"You're the one who said I should take o -" I didn't like where that sentence was headed.

"Want some more berries? I want some more berries. I'm gonna go get more berries. Red ones, right? Perfect." I said quickly cutting him off. He smiled triumphantly and I turned to see Felix was smiling too, obviously glad to see me so uncomfortable. I walked past them and stumbled into the forest trying to remember what Peter had said about the blue or red berries. I think he said red ones were good. I found a bush and began picking them and putting them into my shirt. I had brought the bottom up to make a small basin for them.

"Blue ones, Lexi. Blue ones are good, red ones will kill you."

"Ruffio, will you ever not sneak up on me?" I asked turning to throw a berry at him. It hit him square in the face.

"Do you really want to go there?" He asked smiling. I answered by throwing the rest of them at him. I ran in the opposite direction before he could retaliate laughing and looking over my shoulder. He was right behind me with his own handful, pelting me with blue bullets that stained my shirt and skin. I made a sharp turn onto a different trail and saw another bush. These berries were green and not yet ripened. I pulled them from their stems and launched them at Ruffio as he turned the corner. "Ow! Not fair, those hurt!" He laughed but I didn't stop.

"Don't be a baby," I said reaching for more ammunition but there was none. I looked back at him with wide eyes realizing that I was at a dead end.

"Looks like you're in trouble now," he said. He barreled into me, throwing me onto my back. He sat on top of me like he had at the tent with his legs to one side. He was right on my stomach but I lifted my head to see his tan face grinning down at me. He looked proud and put his hands on his hips.

"Have I won?" he asked. I shrugged my shoulders not looking directly at him. I tried to look like I didn't notice he was squishing me but it wasn't working so well.

"Well?" He asked again. I ignored him again, but a small smile was creeping up on my face. "Ruffio, are you killing her?" Asked Peter from across the clearing.

"Oh, don't stop him." said Felix. Ruffio quickly stood up and held out a hand to help me up, which I took graciously.

"No, we were just playing," Ruffio answered. He looked like he had been caught doing something bad. I thanked him for helping me up with a smile that he returned. I left the clearing and brushed my shoulder into Peter's as I passed.

"Don't be a bully," I whispered knowing that he could hear me. He grabbed my arm pulling me back. His eyes bore into mine and he wore a scowl.

"Don't forget what I said, girl." He replied. I yanked my arm out of his grip and glowered at him. I didn't respond to him and instead looked at Felix. He was smirking.

I stormed onto the trail without looking back.

"You don't know how to get back to camp," Peter called after me.

"I'm sure I'll figure it out, Pixie Boy." I replied coldly.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been morning when I ditched Peter and now it looked to be mid afternoon. The sun was beating through the leaves, assaulting my skin. _Great. Sunburns. _Remembering that blue berries were safe, I had snacked on whatever I could forage safely. A few bushes had some thorns that I had lightly scratched myself on, but it was nothing I couldn't handle.

Maybe if I made it to camp with some battle scars I'd earn some more respect. Sure seemed to work for Felix. My face turned sour at the thought of that self righteous punk. Seriously, he was always so smug just because he knew that knew that I couldn't beat him in a fight. I'd have to ask Ruffio to train me a bit so that I could shove a slice of humble pie down Felix's throat. Ruffio. Kinda an odd name, don't you think? I wandered on contemplating whether that was his real name or one given to him by Peter and the Lost Boys. _Can I get a cool nickname? Oh yeah, I have one: "princess". _

I grumbled angrily to myself about stupid Felix and stupid Peter giving me that stupid name. Stupid boys. Looking around I noticed that I was in the clearing where I had tripped the two boys before; I could tell because the vine was still on the ground, it made me smiled fondly at my small accomplishment.

**Grrrrggghhhhrrrrr **My stomach reminded me that berries, although very tasty, were not sufficient especially compared to the meals I was used to. Back home -_it's not your home anymore- _I had eaten like less like a petite girl and more like a football player. I guess I had genetics to thank for the metabolism that kept all the calories from my figure. Well, whatever figure I could claim to have. The trees around me looked fairly barren of any fruit so I trekked on in hopes of finding anything recognizably edible.

After a number of strange roots that looked like carrots, a few hours and at least ten miles, I began to feel not so great. My limbs ached, along with my head, and my stomach was beginning to cramp. I **knew **that I wasn't on my period because for one time didn't pass here and even if it did I still had a solid two weeks ahead of me before my next one. _Maybe you ate too many berries? Or perhaps those weren't carrots, after all._ I really hoped I hadn't poisoned myself; that would mean I was weak and would have to ask Peter for help. Scratch that, my ego is so big I'd rather die than ask for help. I continued onwards on shaky legs and increasingly blurry vision.

I could see the sun beginning to set behind the trees as I stumbled towards what looked like a camp fire. _Told ya I could figure it out. _Black dots had nearly blocked out my entire line of sight and I had to stop frequently to keep from passing out, but I was determined to keep going. A chill passed through my bodies making me rub my hands over my arms. They felt rough and bumpy. Looking down at them, I saw the scratches from the thorns had swelled into dark and protruding lines. They looked like scars except instead of being pale they were black and a spider's web of black lines ran up both arms and onto my shoulders. I choked back a scream trying to figure out what had happened to me; this was no food poisoning.

I wanted to call for help but restrained. _Just make it to the camp, only a few more steps, then you won't have to ask for help. _I couldn't give in now, not when I had made it so far. My body felt heavy and I blinked rapidly to keep away the tears threatening to further limit my vision. My feet clumsily tripped over themselves making the last yards feel like miles. I pushed through the final line of trees fighting the unconsciousness that was closing in on me. Unable to see anything aside from what was directly in front of me, I walked into the camp unsteadily. If someone saw me they would either think I was highly intoxicated or else very, very sick.

"I made it. Heh, take that, Peter," I whispered through dry lips. I wasn't sure if anybody had seen me yet, or if anyone was even in the camp; all I could hear was blood pumping in my head. In a final attempt at victory I raised my arms as high as I could and shouted what was meant to be, "Told ya so," but probably ended up a bit slurred and incoherent. A small smile crept up on my face when I realized I had been noticed. I was only about five feet from the fire and through hazy eyes I saw a boy walk up to me with a concerned look on his face. I smiled weakly before collapsing into his arms, succumbing to the darkness around me.

"Dreamshade," the voice muttered, "Someone get Peter. NOW!" he shouted. That was the last thing I heard.

I woke up on a rocky surface to water being forced down my throat. _Am I drowning? Dammit, Lexi, did you walk into the ocean? _I began to flail my arms and legs, trying to kick to the surface for air. My limbs felt like lead, unmoving, and my heart raced in panic.

"Hold her still, Ruffio," I heard a frustrated voice say. Peter's voice. What must have been Ruffio's hands held my shoulders firm. I was leaning on somebody, angled so that my head was upright, which was being held by someone pouring water into my mouth. I sputtered and gasped for breath not understanding what was happening. Surely if Peter wanted to drown me he could've just tossed me into the ocean. This was cruel.

The bottle was pulled away from my lips and I gasped for breath finally opening my eyes. Peter was crouched in front of me and I was leaned against Ruffio's who had his hands holding my shoulders tightly in place. The ground disappeared ten feet away to my left and to the right I could make out a small waterfall. My chest was heaving but my heartbeat began to return to a normal pace as I calmed down.

"You're welcome," Peter said standing up and walking to the edge of the cliff to look down. Ruffio patted my shoulder gently to signify that he was standing up, and then helped me onto my feet. My legs felt sturdy beneath me, for once. I took steps towards Peter making the other boy nervous as I came closer to the edge. Peter turned away from the ledge and began to head back into the forest, towards camp I imagined.

Ruffio shared a look with Peter. Well, when I say shared I mean Peter clearly stated with his eyes a warning to obey him and Ruffio returned with an unsure but loyal stare. Ruffio looked away first making Peter smirk cockily and continue his journey away from me. Ruffio looked to me and gesture for him to follow. The air was tense and I felt uncomfortable, like I had interrupted a private conversation.

In the last minute Peter had cleared any confusion of who was the true ruler of Neverland, Ruffio had seemingly been humbled and I was still confused.

"Thanks for helping me," I said trying to clear the air. Ruffio gave me a sad smile before nodding.

"Anything for the princess," he replied. I pushed him lightly with my shoulder laughing quietly at his use of my nick name. When he said it, it didn't feel so condescending. It seemed endearing and lighthearted rather than mean and malicious. I almost didn't mind. Almost not at all.

We continued the short walk to camp in a comfortable silence sharing sideways glances and careful smiles. There was an air of secret wanting, but mostly it was a shared fuzzy and warm feeling that neither of us wanted to lose. He moved his arm to hold my hand but stopped halfway there looking down, embarrassed. I frowned, did I do something wrong? The fuzzy feeling was gone when we walked into camp.

I was grateful for my first real meal since arriving in Neverland. The Lost boys and I sat around the impossibly large campfire eating platefuls of anything we could imagine. I had been confused when Ruffio handed me an empty plate, but after telling me to just picture the food I was pleasantly surprised to find my plate full of fries and a burger. The boys were talking and laughing merrily; they were truly happy here. I sat contentedly listening to snippets of the conversations around me looking occasionally at Ruffio from across the fire. Sometimes we shared eye contact but for the most part he was consumed in his discussion with another boy his age.

"I hear you had an . . . adventure today," someone said next to me. I looked up to see Felix helping himself to the seat next to me.

"I made to camp, and that's all that matters." I replied not looking at him.

"I'm not sure if passing out on the edge of the fire pit counts as "making it"," he said making quotation marks with his fingers. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him reaching for a fry on my plate. I slapped his hand away and quickly ate the fry he had gone after.

"Don't you have somebody else to bother?" I asked clearly annoyed.

"Just you, princess," he answered happily. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath trying to keep from flying off the handle. _Don't give him the reaction he's looking for. _

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to keep you entertained. I have to tell somebody about my problems anyways before I completely lose it. Trust me when I say you don't want to see that," I said laughing lightly, "Oh my goodness today on my walk I saw a flower that was purple and had a pink center part, you know what flower I'm talking about? The one by that tree with the star shaped leaves? Yeah! Okay so anyways it was like this really wonderful shade of purple that completely reminded me of the dress I used to have. That reminded me about the nail polish I had that almost perfectly matched but it was just a shade too light. Don't you hate it when that happens?" I was making exaggerated facial expressions and smiled inwardly as his smirk faltered. He backed up a bit as I continued.

"I almost picked it for you because it would match your eyes I think. Well, it'll match the black eye I'm gonna give you one of these days. Back to my walk, I saw these caterpillars that had fuzzy little hairs. They looked like baby lion worms!" I exclaimed scrunching my face up. He stood up ready to leave so I pulled a sad face.

"You're leaving? I thought we were having a lovely conversation! Oh come back, Felix! I do love your company!" He was walking quickly away from me trying to pretend he couldn't hear me and I laughed harder than I had in a while.

"How did you do that?" asked a boy a few feet away from me.

"Do what? Make the brute leave?" The kid nodded. He looked to be twelve or thirteen and was smaller than the others. I could see why Felix would choose him for target practice.

"Don't let him see that he's bothering you. That doesn't always work, but sometimes if you play it right it'll work like a charm. Next time he gives you trouble just hand it right back to him. I'm Lexi, by the way." I introduced myself.

"My name's Slightly. I like your hair," he said pointing to my head. My hair was in a pixie cut, nice and short. When I had gotten it done the hairdresser tried to talk me out of it calling it "masculine". Psh. I thanked him and we began to chat about the lives we had left and the boys around us. He pointed out and named a few of them but it was no use. I had forgotten them almost immediately.

After an hour or so Peter walked up to us wearing a caring smile. He radiated that warmth that made me want to be near him like he had the first day.

"Hiya, Peter!" the boy said excitedly.

"I see you've met Lexi," he replied ruffling the boy's hair. Slightly nodded. "Do you mind if I steal her for a bit? I promise she'll be back before you go to bed." Slightly nodded again and waved to me.

"See ya later, Lexi," he said as I got up to follow Peter to the edge of the fire. The flames danced on his face like they had last night, leaving shadows that portrayed the boy Peter would always be. I stood in silence waiting for him to say something.

"Do you know what happened to you today?" He asked. I shrugged and tried to remember what I could. There was a chunk of my memories missing, specifically following my arrival to camp, but I didn't let it worry me.

"I think I had allergic reaction to some thorns a scraped myself on. It wasn't normal, though. My arms had black lines all over them and when I made it to camp, successfully I might add, I passed out. When I woke up you were pouring water down my throat. I kinda thought you were trying to drown me," I said giggling. His body shook slightly with a chuckle. He looked at me for a moment, as if trying to decide what to tell me. His eyes were . . . worried? No, not Peter. A forced smile replaced his frown and he looked away from me.

"That's some reaction," he said jokingly.

"I guess," I was relieved to hear it had just been allergies. I'd have to remember what bush it had been that caused it.

"Hey Peter? You never did tell me, what's dreamshade?" I asked curiously.

"Just a name for this plant the boys found. It makes whoever eats it fall asleep for long periods of time." He explained. He didn't look at me when he said it, but I wasn't too concerned. I stifled a yawn and wrapped my arms around my body. The heat of the fire was comfortable and my eyelids began to feel heavy.

"C'mon, let's get you to a bed before you collapse again," Peter suggested mockingly. I simply nodded and followed him to his tent.

"Your tent's not ready yet, so you'll have to stay in here or with one of the boys. I had another bed brought in bed if you want it, umm Lexi? Are you listening to me?" We were inside now and I had wrapped my blanket around myself. It was nice to have something familiar again.

"Not really, no," I replied honestly in a sleepy voice. I lay down on his bed and curled into a cocoon off to one side. I was asleep before Peter had left the tent. These eventful days were taking their toll on me.

**A/N: Hey guys! Finals week is this week so I'll try my best to update but no promises! I will try to update in a day or two, though. Thanks for the reviews **** let me know what you guys think, any ideas, stuff like that. Love you all! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hi! Okay so just some announcements.**

**1) I'm still trying to figure out formatting on here so on Word I am marking with asterisks where time lapses or where certain sections end but it's not coming through correctly. I promise I'm not trying to be sloppy or confusing at all! I just can't quite get it and I am sure it's super simple but I'm having issues. Sorry for any confusion. :/**

**2) meguhanu: I think the fangirling will disappear pretty quickly when she sees how much of a liar and manipulator Peter is…..**

** YouSaid: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it **

** ElektraMackenzie: Okay I have small confession…I kinda really fangirled when I saw that you had commented on my story because I seriously love your stories so much. Thank you so much for all of the comments and support…I would not have objected to an undressed Peter either… ;) **

**3) I realized that I haven't stated the obvious yet: I do not own OUAT or any characters in this story besides Lexi.**

**4) I'm done with announcements, so here enjoy this! **

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I slept like a log that night, no dreams or anything. I didn't even notice that Peter had let me have the whole bed to myself or that he had come back later on and pulled more blankets over me. When I awoke I was burrowed down in blankets and pillows so perfectly warm that I had to make a real attempt to get out of the bed. It was more like rolling out, but no one was there to make fun of me. I didn't even bother trying to flatten my hair that was surely looking something like a cockatoo. Since I had cut it so short it had grown rebellious, sticking up and pointing in different directions making me look more like a bird than a pixie. Go figure. Wrapping my blanket around me I sleepily wandered out of the tent looking around for any signs of life. A cluster of boys sat by the fire, another by one of the tents and a third group appeared to be preparing for a hunt.

I spotted Peter talking to the boys by the fire, or what was left of it, and headed towards him. He looked up and stifled a laugh with the back of his hand. The other boys followed his gaze to me and reacted less politely, openly laughing at my appearance.

"Hey, we can't all wake up looking like models. Pass the food, please? I'm starved," I reached for one of plates sitting on a log. A boy who looked my age handed it to me and I thanked him. _Hmmm, waffles with plenty of peanut butter. _I opened my eyes and began to feast upon the breakfast of my choosing.

"I guess not. Would you like a mirror?" Peter asked still smiling. I shrugged and took a bite of my food.

"Nah, some clothes would be nice though? These ones are getting kinda old," I said with a full mouth. Apparently my not-so-lady-like manners were humorous because it sent the boys into a fit of laughter.

"I bet they would be nice," one boy gasped between laughs.

"Yeah, let's get you changed . . . that would probably be a good idea. Clothes usually are a good idea," Peter replied guiding me back to the tent. I looked at him with a confused face and all he did was point down at my shirt. I was horrified to see that I wasn't wearing one. All I had on was my blanket which was very loosely wrapped around me body revealing an absurd amount of what would be cleavage had I had any real boobs. I was not blessed with big breasts.

I hastily covered up and ran into the tent dropping my plate of food on the way. By this point, the others were staring openly at the events that were playing out. Peter followed me into the tent leisurely and leaned against the door frame crossing his arms across his chest.

"Some privacy please?!" I yelled at him but he didn't move. Instead he looked over his shoulder and snapped his fingers making all noise disappear. _Something's not right. _

"What odd dreams you have, Lexi," he chuckled stepping closer to me. Self consciously I pulled the blanket even tighter around my shoulders and took a step back nervously.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I asked. The bed intersected my knees making me sit down ungracefully. Peter kept walking closer casually as if this were totally and completely normal. He leaned in to my face and our cheeks touched.

"Wake up." He whispered into my ear. And I did.

.

.

I woke up panting. I was tangled in my blanket, and only blanket. With shaking and panicked hands I yanked down the blanket and sighed in relief to see that I was wearing clothes. _It was just a nightmare. A very, very, very weird nightmare. _After a few deep breaths I gathered up enough sense to pinch myself. While the pinch hurt, I had never been more grateful for the pain. _This better not be like Inception. _As I stood up letting the blanket fall onto the bed in a heap, I noticed a tingly feeling in my legs from sleeping in skinny jeans three nights in a row.

Stepping out of the tent, I saw that most of the boys were huddled in groups talking and playing around. Some were playing dangerous looking games with knives, others were wrestling and the other groups were playing a variety of games or talking. They were all so happy and content here. I wondered if they had forgotten that any other places even existed.

Peter sauntered out of the tent across from me smiling mockingly. _No, no, no. That was a dream. _I stormed over to him, attracting some amount of attention from the Lost Boys.

"Sleep well, Princess?" He asked in an infuriating tone. He was joking around, but he had invaded my mind.

"You better not have been inside my mind. I'm allowed personal space and my thoughts are out of bounds to you or anyone. So. Get. Out." I hadn't raised my voice even a hair. I could tell that made a few of the other boys nervous.

"Nothing is out of bounds, not in a game like this. I approve of your decision to wear clothes, by the way. Very smart of you," he was pushing me to see how much I could handle. I had miles to go before I broke, though.

"You're in for a surprise, then. I think you'll find it takes a little more than petty dream invasion to get under my skin," I had straightened up to my full height making us almost the same. His eyes flashed dangerously, a warning to quit before it was too late, but all I did was raise an eyebrow in response. _Your move, Peter._

"Is that a challenge?" He asked clearly. The Lost Boys around us had backed up forming an arena for our battle of words.

"No, it's a fact. I'm a tough girl, I think I can handle some games from an eternally immature boy," I spat back at him. Our eyes held each other, both refusing to back down first. A small smirk crept on to his face as he raised a hand to hold my cheek. I didn't flinch or make any response to the action, instead choosing to smirk myself.

"Oh, it's been a while since anyone has tried to fight back. I'd almost forgotten what it meant to break someone's spirit. You will prove to be a fun toy indeed." He was praising me, thanking me for not succumbing so easily.

"I'm no toy. I'm not some obstacle for you to defeat. This is me setting boundaries that you **will **respect. I will never break. Have fun playing with your toy soldiers, I won't be joining you." I glared at him but spoke calmly. He cocked his head to one side squinting as if trying to see me clearly.

"I guess we'll see about that. We do have forever, and as a friend of mine once said: forever is an awfully long time." _Wendy. _My face betrayed no hint of shock or any emotion besides carelessness.

"I guess so."

"Peter! We found Hook's treasure!" A voice interrupted our war. The voice belonged to Slightly who was running from the forest into the arena excitedly. He stopped suddenly, becoming aware that he had just walked into a very tense situation. Peter turned to him, breaking eye contact, and glared. The boy stepped back into the group and hid himself behind an older boy mumbling apologies. Peter looked back to me to see a smug grin.

"Play nice, boys." I said simply before turning to walk back into Peter's tent in a hunt for clothes. We were about the same size, right?

"Where's the treasure?" I heard Peter ask after a length of time. Sounds of preparation and excited yells soon destroyed the tension that had built up. Within five minutes the camp had fallen silent and I assumed they had all left to steal the treasure.

I rummaged through his drawers until I found dark pants and a loose fitting shirt. They were surprising comfortable and though they were a bit big, I was able to adjust them with a belt I found and some skilled knotting. I strapped on my converse with a smile. By looking into the mirror leaning against a wall I decided I looked like the others. From the back I could easily pass for one of the Lost Boys, which was exactly what I wanted. The harder it was for them to see my differences the more likely they were to treat me equally.

I added a few final touches and walked confidently out of the tent expecting the camp to be empty. Sure enough, it appeared deserted and I was grateful for the silence.

"You changed, I like it," Ruffio said. I hadn't even noticed him sitting on a log on the edge of camp. He was perfectly camouflaged in his dark green attire and hood pulled over his head. I jumped slightly at his sudden presence.

"Privacy is a commodity, huh?" I asked settling down on the ground by the tree next to him. When he looked down at me the fuzzy warmth returned and I laughed quietly to myself.

"What?" he asked self consciously.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about how weird this place has turned out to be. Did you see Peter earlier? Is he always like that, so controlling?" I was poking the ground with a stick not looking at Ruffio.

"I heard about it, the boys were saying that they had never seen Peter so calm in the face of someone as obnoxious as you were. Peter's not so bad, when you get used to him," he said.

"Yeah well I don't wanna get used to him. I want him to respect me. He acts like he owns everyone and everything here, like we should all worship the ground he walks on. I'm sorry but I don't buy it." I was trying to put my frustration into words.

"He does."

"Does what?"

"Own us. We sold ourselves to Peter Pan the minute we decided to stay on this island. Nothing happens without Peter's knowledge. He takes care of us, he's the good guy. Without him we would all be back in hell." Ruffio's voice sounded far off, like he was remembering why he'd left home. "Surely you can relate, I mean no one comes to Neverland that doesn't need to." He looked at me expectantly but I had no reply for him.

The life I'd left wasn't hell at all. Sure there had been obstacles and trials, but nothing was perfect. I realized that Peter had saved these boys; he was helping them. I felt like a spoiled child. Who was I to pretend and understand what any of these boys had gone through?

"There's a difference between a savior and a slave master. Don't let him fool you into thinking you deserve to be owned. Nothing is worth giving up your freedom for."

"You don't know what you're talking about," his brows furrowed and he stood up towering over me. I opened my mouth but he cut me off, suddenly furious, "Peter saved me, all of us. What we have here is freedom. We can play and be young forever! Don't you see? We never have to face adult problems or grow up. We can have anything we want as long as we imagine it! Anything! Peter is not the tyrant you think he is; understand that! He is good! Swallow your pride and realize what a wonderful place Neverland is. It's a blessing and Peter is the hero who saved us. Your boundaries are imaginary, they don't mean a thing if Peter doesn't want them to. It's a small sacrifice for the choice you've made to stay in Neverland. If you don't like it, well that sucks because you aren't going anywhere." He was shouting down at me and I could do nothing but let him get his rage out.

"Ruffio, I'm so-" He walked off before I could finish my sentence. _You've outstayed your welcome. Neverland is not where you belong. _

I walked back to the tent fighting back tears. _Don't you dare cry. _After changing back into the clothes I had arrived in and folding up the old ones, I made the bed and marched out of camp. I looked back just once trying to imprint the image of the camp into my mind. _Do not cry. Crying is a weakness. _

"Thanks, Neverland, I guess there's no such thing as perfect, huh?" I whispered to myself.

"Well, there is me." Peter's voice was the last thing I wanted to hear right now. He stood directly in front of me with his hands on his hips.

"I'm leaving. You've won. I don't belong here; I can't accept this life like the boys because I haven't experienced enough pain." I didn't look at him. If admitting defeat is what I needed to do for him to leave me alone, then I'd swallow my pride and do it.

"You misunderstand the purpose of Neverland. It's not a place for those who've suffered to find refuge."

"It doesn't matter what it is. It's not for me. I thought it was what I wanted, but I was wrong. I'm leaving." I walked pass him. He tsked at me before sticking his arm in front of my body to stop me from walking any further.

"You can't."

"I made it here without your approval. I can leave if I want, too. It looks like you finally found a person you can't control." I looked at him evenly. I wasn't gloating or trying to rub anything in his face, but I knew I had a point. That's why I was taken aback to see that he was chuckling to himself.

"Allow me to rephrase. You can't leave alive." I squinted my eyes at him.

"Is that a threat? I'd rather die than stay here in misery."

"Don't make promises you don't intend to keep," Peter replied. The deadly glint had returned to his eyes. His grip tightened around my arm and he pulled me in front of him to clutch my shoulders painfully. I winced and struggled to free myself, but he was much stronger than me and we both knew it. We were walking backwards until my back collided with a tree. He leaned in close, like he had in the dream.

"Besides, the fun has just begun." He whispered into my ear. His breath tickled and a shiver ran through my body. I turned to look at his face fearful for what was going to happen next. His hands moved from my shoulders to cup my face and he stared into my eyes with an unmistakable intensity. He became angry, suddenly slamming his fist into the tree next to my head.

"Damn you, Lexi!" He shouted into my face. I cowered away, unsure of what had brought on the aggression or how to calm him down. My mouth opened and closed over and over again making me look like a fish.

"I-I'm s-sorry," I stuttered. He moved one hand around my throat and the other tangled itself into my hair pulling my face to look at his. The grip on my throat was almost nonexistent, but the hand sat there as warning. I could see a struggle going on in his eyes. He was torn over something I couldn't understand.

His lips were on mine before I knew what was happening. They were gentler than I would have thought, but a certain greediness was undeniable. I kissed back carefully, hopefully, I wanted him to calm down again. I could handle frustration and determination, but not aggression. He pulled away as quickly as he had approached and turned away from me.

"Leave me," he sounded heartbroken. I wanted to console him and give him a hug, but all I could do was obey his single wish.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what for but I'm sorry," I said quietly as I backed away slowly.

"LEAVE ME!" he shouted and that's exactly what I did.

**A/N: Trust me, this is not where you think it's going. **


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